Confession and Consequence
by shortcurlytop99
Summary: When Sam Temple admits to long-time girlfriend, Astrid, a temporary need for love  and we're not talking the Astrid, pure kind  with a particular Taylor, things get ugly: Taylor and Astrid face-off plus a Sammy Revelation. Enjoy and review!


"You did _what?_" Astrid exclaimed with uncharacteristic loudness.

Same fidgeted and avoided her approaching murderous expression: his conscience had advised him to tell Astrid as soon as possible: it was the code of girlfriend boyfriend relationships. You did something bad, you fessed up. Now look where that got him.

"It happened when we broke up. It was a kiss, nothing else." he promised, staring into her blue eyes that were growing colder by the second.

The _it_ Sam was referring to was kissing Taylor. It had been a moment of weakness; a moment he was cursing to the seventh ring of hell.

"So as soon as we take a break you're all over _her_?" Astrid jerked her head to Taylor who stood about five feet away, arms crossed and glaring.

"I do have a name you know." Taylor pointed out sullenly, flipping her hair back from her shoulder.

"You do _not_ talk. In fact; you have no right to participate in this conversation." Astrid snapped angrily, eyes now locked on Taylor.

Sam resisted the urge to groan in frustration. Things weren't looking good; and to add to this, kids were starting to notice the argument. They had begun to circle around them, watching. Sam couldn't say he blamed them; entertainment in the FAYZ was limited and a good row between the famous Sam Temple and his genius girlfriend was becoming a show highly sought after.

"Don't tell me what to do." Taylor retorted, eyes blazing, "besides; Sam was lonely." She grinned evilly, "You weren't there to help him. I was"

The tension swarmed around them; a storm brewing.

"No, you just wanted to fuck him." Astrid said calmly.

Sam, Taylor and everyone watching stared at Astrid with jaws slack and eyes wide. Astrid didn't swear; ever. It was below her, but yet she dropped the F-bomb like she was ordering a burger at Mickey D's.

"Hot damn," Howard said, loud enough for Sam to catch. He didn't even realize Howard was there. Astrid had the decency to blush but didn't take it back. Taylor actually looked a little hurt,

"I'm not a slut." She announced, as if to prove something.

"Well," Astrid pronounced slowly, "You could have fooled me."

There was quick intake of breath by the audience as they watched the exchange. Sam wished she would go back to berating him; leave Taylor out of it. But Astrid had said too much; there was no going back now.

Taylor's next move was so out of character Sam didn't even have time to react before it happened. In a matter of second, Taylor had bounced inches away from Astrid. Grabbing a handful of blond hair, Taylor jerked Astrid's head back and forth forcefully. The attack was strong enough to send Astrid sprawling to the ground when Taylor finally released her. Sam noticed Astrid's lip was bleeding.

"Dude, what's going on?" Quinn asked, materializing beside Sam. Edilio and Lana (shockingly) were in tow.

"Err…I told Astrid about Taylor. And well; _this_ happened."

Edilio took in the scene with wide, dark eyes. He muttered something in Spanish that Sam, though his foreign language skills were laughable, could tell wasn't encouraging. Maybe Edilio was calling Taylor _el Diablo_, which, from the thunderous expression on the Asian girl's face, didn't contradict the notion.

Meanwhile, Astrid had regained her footing and threw an impressive right hook at Taylor's face (a move that, Sam was disheartened to note, he had taught her some months ago.) The crowd seemed split, half of them echoing Lana's gasp of despair, the other half embracing Howard's chant-like cheering. Sam shook his head: this was going on far too long. With a precarious confidence, Sam marched over to where Taylor had pinned Astrid to the ground (though Astrid was a good six inches taller than her.) and was passionately attempting to smash her head into the ground. Astrid had Taylor by the throat and was clearly not about to let go. Edilio, finally tearing his gaze away from the fight, hastily followed Sam's lead: As Sam took hold of Astrid's waist; Edilio snuck behind Taylor and seized both of her thrashing wrists. Neither of the girls seemed ready to let the issue drop though: Astrid did everything she could to break out of Sam's grip (including biting him) and Taylor had momentarily switched targets and was beating on Edilio. Glaring after Sam, Edilio struggled to keep Taylor still and _not _end up with a black eye.

"Sam, get. Off. Of. Me," Astrid demanded tersely, wrestling against him.

"Only if you promise not to go after Taylor," Sam warns and, with more than a little hesitation, Astrid sighed in frustration,

"_Fine_,"

Sam made eye contact with Edilio: Taylor seemed to have used most of her strength on Astrid and was temporarily docile to Edilio. Nodding slightly, both Sam and Edilio cautiously released their captives. Astrid seemed to gain some sort of control over herself; she smoothed down her messy hair and adjusted her shirt. Taylor rolled back her shoulders, obviously getting the kinks out of them, and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Her face was grim.

Head high with her usual pride, Astrid started to walk over to her nemesis when Sam caught her hand and bent his mouth to her ear,

"Avoid punching her."

"I'll keep that in mind. Don't worry, Sam; I am merely making peace with your girlfriend."

That stung.

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Whatever,"

She stared at Taylor who stared right back venomously. Edilio and Sam hovered around the two like body guards, ready to drag them off at any sign of recurring violence.

"I'm sorry about that." Astrid confessed, looking Taylor in the eye. "I shouldn't have _implied_ your sexual promiscuity."

"Astrid," Sam warned under his breath.

"Anyway, it was wrong and I'm sorry." Astrid continued smoothly, seeming to ignore Sam completely.

Taylor just glared.

"Truce?" Astrid stuck out her hand. Taylor glanced at it and then took it, a smile lighting her face.

By the looks Edilio was shooting at her sudden change of expression, Sam knew Taylor's mood swing wasn't to be trusted.

"Truce," once they shook hands Sam felt relieved. The crowd look disappointed; especially Howard.

Once they let go Astrid commented,

"And really, it isn't any of my business how many guys you slept with. Although I'm sure the vast amount may even be difficult for _me_ to calculate." Astrid smiled sweetly. Sam could have keeled over and died a painful slow death and be happier than he was at that moment. Taylor's face twisted with rage and embarrassment. Even though Sam knew what was going to happen, he was too slow to stop it.

Taylor's fist went flying right smack into Astrid's nose. It might have been bleeding but Sam was too busy watching as Astrid kicked Taylor viciously in the ankle, making the other girl stumble. The next kick was aimed at her ribs, which caused her to completely crumble. Sam didn't know what to expect next: Astrid looked mad enough to stand on the fire hydrant and do a body slam. But Taylor apparently wasn't as defeated as Sam initially presumed: little hand clawing it's way above her, she grabbed Astrid's arm and twisted it with malice. Crying out, Astrid was brought down to her knees where the fighting started to get _really _ugly.

Edilio stared at Sam; trying to come up with a plan. Unfortunately the crowd was eating it up; relishing in the energy and chaos the fight brought. It also didn't help that Howard was yelling 'rip her shirt off!' every five seconds. The sound that silenced the crowd's hungry cries was a distinct collision of solid against flesh: Taylor had managed to gain possession of a rock. It was to be expected since they all lived near the beach, where the prees and other little kids tended to bring interesting looking shells and rocks back to town: more than once Sam had seen these souvenirs scattered across sidewalks, perched on wooden benches, even huddled in the branches of trees.

Astrid lay still, rendered useless, and Edilio seemed to think that this method of attack had gone too far: Swiftly, he threw himself at Taylor, pinning her to the ground. Taylor screamed like a banshee beneath him and kicked wildly. From the frequent expressions of pain, Sam could guess Taylor had successfully hit her target. Sam raised his eyes to the sky: if Edilio kept this up, Sam could be the last man standing. With a final jab, Taylor had defeated Edilio. Pushing his limp body off of hers, Taylor retrieved her rock and approached Astrid who, though not unconscious, was in no shape to defend herself: she watched Taylor warily. Sam was finally struck back into reason and raced toward Astrid, intending to burn Taylor to the ground if need be, but skidded to a halt: Taylor screeched in surprise as she was lifted into the air. Sam and the crowd followed her progress as she rose higher and higher. Astrid gazed up and was too surprised to notice Edilio crawling toward her in concern.

For one terrifying moment Sam thought it was Cain (scary thought). But when he did a double take, he realized it was Dekka, with Brianna grinning beside her. Dekka was shaking her head at a squabbling Taylor.

"Shut up," she let Taylor drop from quite a significant height. She hit the ground like a sack of potatoes. Edilio had finally sunk himself beside Astrid and watched the display with a mix of thoughtfulness and disapproval on his face. Dekka glanced at Astrid like she just noticed she was there. Then she looked at Sam; her expression was a mixture of amusement and disappointment.

"Okay, party's over, kids. Scram," she said, shooing away the crowd. They left without complaint; you didn't ignore Dekka when she told you to do something. Taylor had recovered from her fall; she glared at Dekka like she had somehow deeply betrayed her. Dekka winked at Sam;

"I'll leave you to do damage control, Sam. Good luck," Dekka strutted off with her usual self-dignity. Brianna snickered, spotted Jack in the crowd and ran to find him.

Lana went over to Taylor, inspecting her wounds,

"A sprained ankle. You'll live." Her voice was harsh. Edilio helped Astrid (since she refused Sam) up and she held onto him for support. Sam felt jealousy claw at his stomach; it should be him who was helping Astrid, not Edilio.

Edilio spotted Sam's glare and uneasily said to Astrid, "hey, maybe Sam can take you back home. He's you know...Taller."

Astrid shook her head, and since she didn't seem to be letting go of Edilio anytime soon, he went along with it. As they passed, Edilio managed to mouth to Sam,

'Sorry' before walking into town and out of sight.

Once Lana was through with Taylor (the girl had run off out of sight, clearly torn between getting back at Sam for trying to defend Astrid and saving her own neck if Sam decided to make things even for her messing up Astrid) she sauntered over to Sam's side and bumped his shoulder playfully,

"She'll come around, Sam. Just give her time to cool off. You're not exactly a picture of innocence right now. Giver her space. It'll be fine." Lana clapped him on the shoulder before whistling for Patrick. The two of them soon disappeared from the site, probably on their way to Clifftop. Sam knew she hated being in public and, right now, Sam was starting to hate being in public too. Sitting down on one of the spare benches that circled the plaza, Sam tried not to panic: he would give Astrid her space, like Lana had suggested, but how much space did she want? He didn't want her to be mad at him forever. For all he knew, she was gearing up for a showdown with him. Sam didn't much like the thought of that: Astrid yelling once today was enough for a lifetime. But he would have to face her one on one sometime. Girls, he concluded tiredly, just seemed almost too much trouble to bother with at all. Besides, he had plenty other things to worry about without Taylor and Astrid intruding on his thoughts: the FAYZ wasn't exactly Disney Land and he knew, as did everyone else who had been unwillingly living here, it was only bound to get worse. Heck, he didn't even want the job. Astrid had pressured him into it, along with the rest of the council. And, apparently, he wasn't alone in the sentiment: Zil and his crew of total losers addicted to baseball bats were really starting to heat things up. Sam didn't know how much more he could take. And, of course, he couldn't forget brother dearest: Cain Soren was keeping low these days but Sam knew better than to expect a total defeat from his long lost twin. He would come back when Sam least expected him to: kind of like Lord Voldemort, only much less welcomed.

Sam closed his eyes and breathed in the salty air from the bay. He needed to be Mr. Mayor and man up.

He needed to man up for Astrid.

He needed to man up for all the other freaks in the FAYZ being persecuted by haters like Zil.

And it was clear, Sam thought despairingly, he had stopped manning up since he had let himself kiss Taylor.


End file.
